I am happy to report that I survived my first week.  Dare I say….it was not as bad as I thought!

Here are a few things to report from the week:

• I do still need coffee.  Turns out coffee is actually good with just whole milk or half and half.  Who knew!?
• By the end of day 2, I was a jerk and my belly was not happy with me.  I gave up my fiber supplement for the month as it contains sugar. (This was an unexplainable loss folks.)  I was back to feeling “normal” in both my attitude and digestion by day 4.
• Could it be possible that my complexion is improving already?  I did also switch to a cool new night creme, so it could be a coincidence.  Regardless, several people have made comments.
• It is REALLY hard to be the only one in my house that is doing this.  Dave’s food journey is his food journey, so I did not force him to give this a go.  Cooking something different for my boys (hubs included), or a modified version of what I have been eating is pretty rough.  Most nights, I have served what I have served what I have served, and Dave got to benefit from a healthier meal.
• I am SUPER grateful for my local butcher (go pay him a visit please and support local!), and my CSA because they both allow me the option to keep fresh, high quality food on hand.  I might even incorporate the farmer’s market next weekend.

Recap on things I ate last week:

• Breakfasts went well.  Nothing life changing.  I did significantly under-boil close to a dozen pastured eggs, which was a crushing blow.  Besides that, I have not been challenged by my options.  Oatmeal with whole milk and applesauce carried me through.
• Lunch was mostly left-overs and salads.  Generally, I struggle with getting my lunch packed up before heading out for the day, then find myself snacking on unhealthy things while I am out.  This week, I realized that it only takes a few minutes to plan ahead, and bring both snacks and a hearty lunch.  Victory.  When I was home for lunch, it usually looked something like this: 
• I stuck to the dinner plan.  Wins included my very favorite whole chicken in my crock pot which fed us for a few nights, and also was added to a few lunch salads throughout the week, meatballs (seared in bacon grease, then baked through), chopped salad with quinoa/apples/sweet potatoes, and the chipotle chicken sweet potatoes (no image because I ate them too fast).   All recipe links are in previous week’s menu.                                                                          
• The only dinner that was not a hit was the pho/shrimp soup.  I put in too many spices that competed with the flavor of my broth, and it was HOT that evening which made consuming soup less than ideal.  I might try it again with some corrections.

Here is what is on the menu for this week.  Only including links to dinners.  I will post what worked and did not work for breakfast/lunch in my recap next week.

Monday:  Steak fajitas.  I will have this without tortillas, maybe over salad or rice.  I will use the meat for lunch the first few days of the week.  I got a massive portion to supply meat for a few meals and lunches.  Cook once, eat multiple times y’all.

Tuesday:   Fajita bowl with leftover steak, beans, avocado, cheese.

Wednesday:  Salmon with mango/avocado salsa and zucchini spears.

Thursday:  Chicken avocado burgers.  I will have some yummy artichokes to accompany the burgers.

Friday:  Quinoa with paprika chicken and asparagus

Saturday: Fish tacos in lettuce wraps.  You guys, this fish with the avocado sauce is SO amazing.  I typically make fresh corn tortillas, but not this go-round.

Sunday:  This will be an adventure, but going to give some crockpot curry beef stew a try.  I adore this blogger, and almost everything I make from her collection is awesome.

Share your favorite clean recipes in the comments if you have found things that you love.

Eat well this week friends!